Answer Engine Optimization: How to Show Up in AI Search

There is a new normal in terms of how customers are researching what to buy, and you have to be part of it. Otherwise, you are going to get left behind.

What I mean by that is the way people are researching solutions has changed. You are no longer simply going to Google, typing in a search term, finding a website, and then buying the product.

I will caveat this by saying that the shift is going to happen much more gradually than everybody thinks. The search term to website to buy funnel is not going to disappear overnight, but it is going to change.

The Search Process Is Becoming a Conversation

We are moving into a world in which you are dealing with something. You have an issue, you are struggling with a problem, or you are stuck somewhere, and the way you begin dealing with it is by going to an AI chat solution and starting a conversation.

You are not going to be super prescriptive. You are not going to sit there trying to break the problem down into the exact right search terms you should use.

Instead, you are going to have a free-flowing conversation with AI. You are going to explain what is happening, answer follow-up questions, add context, and gradually work your way toward a possible solution.

And where the heck does a brand fit into that?

I will tell you exactly where you fit into it. You fit into it in every way, shape, and form possible.

Your Brand Needs to Become Part of the Answer

The way you become part of these conversations is by making sure that you are one of the sources the AI is pulling from when it gives people answers.

AI search tools already show the sources they are using. They display links, names, and little logos from the companies and websites whose information contributed to the answer.

The person having that conversation is going to see your logo showing up again, again, again, again, again. They are going to see your company mentioned over and over as they work through the different parts of their problem.

Eventually, it becomes a weighted average in their mind. Who seems to have the answers most of the time when I am having this conversation with AI?

That is where you have to show up.

Start With Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How

How do you actually do that?

Well, that is the hard part.

One framework that can be helpful here is who, what, when, where, why, and how. You can use this framework to map out the conversations your potential customers are likely to have before they ever start looking for a specific product.

Who is it that you sell to?

Who are they? What is their persona? What is their job? What are they responsible for? What is happening in their life or business?

What are they trying to do?

What are they trying to accomplish? What are they trying to avoid? What is the outcome they want, even if they do not yet know what kind of product or service will help them achieve it?

When are they trying to do it?

When are they going to start searching for a solution? What is the specific circumstance that causes the problem to become important?

Where does the problem show up?

Where are they when they begin looking for help? Is this happening at work, at home, inside a particular system, or during a specific part of their process?

Why are they seeking a solution?

Why are they doing this now? What finally pushed them over the edge and made them say, “All right, I have to take care of this”?

How are they going to research it?

Do they start with AI search? Does AI enter the process after they have already done some research? Is it in the middle, when they are comparing options, or at the end, when they are trying to make a final decision?

That is the process you have to understand.

Subject Matter Expertise Is No Longer Optional

Once you understand those questions, you have to answer them as the subject matter expert.

And you do have to be the subject matter expert now. It is no longer optional.

In the old world of content consultants and outsourced content creation, you could get away with hiring a decent writer who kind of understood the topic. They could do some research, put together an article, and make it sound reasonably informed.

Not anymore.

Now, you have to be the subject matter expert, or you have to bring a subject matter expert into the process. The content has to contain real experience, real insight, and real answers that cannot be assembled by skimming the same five articles everybody else is using.

This is where I believe founder-led brands are going to win.

As the founder, you are the subject matter expert. You know an enormous amount about the people you serve, the problems they experience, the mistakes they make, and the situations that finally cause them to look for help.

If I sat down with you and asked you the who, what, when, where, why, and how questions for an hour, you would probably end the conversation thinking, “Wow, I still have many, many hours of stuff to talk about.”

That is perfect.

Turn Your Expertise Into Content AI Can Use

The next step is to take all of that information and put it into clearly organized, nicely formatted content that AI systems can ingest, understand, and reference.

You are taking the knowledge that currently lives in your head and making it available to the systems your potential customers are using to research their problems.

Then, when somebody is having a conversation with AI on the other end, they are essentially having a conversation with you.

They are asking the questions you have already answered. They are working through the problems you understand better than almost anyone else. They are being introduced to your ideas, your frameworks, and your way of thinking before they ever visit your website or consider buying your product.

That is what you want.

That is how you show up in AI search. And that is how you are going to win in this new normal.